Seventy two percent of U.S. troops in Iraq believe
the United States should pull out within one year, a column by Nicholas
Kristof in Tuesday's New York Times reveals. The poll was conducted by Zogby
International and is the first poll to examine the attitudes of those currently
serving in the wartorn nation.

The full poll is available here. Excerpts from Kristof's
column follow. Following Kristof's excerpts are excerpts from Zogby's poll.

#
When President Bush held a public meeting with troops by satellite last
fall, they were miraculously upbeat. And all along, unrepentant hawks (most
of whom have never been to Iraq) have insisted that journalists are misreporting
Iraq and that most soldiers are gung-ho about their mission.

Hogwash! A new poll to be released Tuesday shows that
U.S. soldiers overwhelmingly want out of Iraq -- and soon.

The poll is the first of U.S. troops currently serving
in Iraq, according to John Zogby, the pollster. Conducted by Zogby International
and LeMoyne College, it asked 944 service members, "How long should
U.S. troops stay in Iraq?"

Only 23 percent backed Bush's position that they should
stay as long as necessary. In contrast, 72 percent said that U.S. troops
should be pulled out within one year. Of those, 29 percent said they should
withdraw "immediately..."

While the White House emphasizes the threat from non-Iraqi
terrorists, only 26 percent of the U.S. troops say that the insurgency would
end if those foreign fighters could be kept out. A plurality believes that
the insurgency is made up overwhelmingly of discontented Iraqi Sunnis...

By a 2-1 ratio, the troops said that "to control
the insurgency we need to double the level of ground troops and bombing
missions." And since there is zero chance of that happening, a majority
of troops seemed to be saying that they believe this war to be unwinnable.

This first systematic look at the views of the U.S.
troops on the ground suggests that our present strategy in Iraq is failing
badly. The troops overwhelmingly don't want to "stay the course,"
and they don't seem to think the American strategy can succeed.

#
Zogby excerpts:

The poll, conducted in conjunction with Le Moyne College’s
Center for Peace and Global Studies, showed that 29% of the respondents,
serving in various branches of the armed forces, said the U.S. should leave
Iraq “immediately,” while another 22% said they should leave
in the next six months. Another 21% said troops should be out between six
and 12 months, while 23% said they should stay “as long as they are
needed.”

Different branches had quite different sentiments on
the question, the poll shows. While 89% of reserves and 82% of those in
the National Guard said the U.S. should leave Iraq within a year, 58% of
Marines think so. Seven in ten of those in the regular Army thought the
U.S. should leave Iraq in the next year. Moreover, about three-quarters
of those in National Guard and Reserve units favor withdrawal within six
months, just 15% of Marines felt that way. About half of those in the regular
Army favored withdrawal from Iraq in the next six months.

The troops have drawn different conclusions about fellow
citizens back home. Asked why they think some Americans favor rapid U.S.
troop withdrawal from Iraq, 37% of troops serving there said those Americans
are unpatriotic, while 20% believe people back home don’t believe
a continued occupation will work. Another 16% said they believe those favoring
a quick withdrawal do so because they oppose the use of the military in
a pre-emptive war, while 15% said they do not believe those Americans understand
the need for the U.S. troops in Iraq.

The wide-ranging poll also shows that 58% of those
serving in country say the U.S. mission in Iraq is clear in their minds,
while 42% said it is either somewhat or very unclear to them, that they
have no understanding of it at all, or are unsure. While 85% said the U.S.
mission is mainly “to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9-11
attacks,” 77% said they also believe the main or a major reason for
the war was “to stop Saddam from protecting al Qaeda in Iraq.”

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